The recent miniaturization trend in electronic circuit designs is driven by consumer demand for smaller and light-weight electronic devices such as cellular phones and portable computers, for example. Often, the heaviest component in an electronic device is the battery. Devices having smaller batteries require low power electronic circuits to prevent the battery from discharging too rapidly. Logic integrated circuits (ICs) have migrated to lower working voltages in the search for lower power consumption and higher operating frequencies.
An amplifier is a linear electronic circuit that may be used amplify an input signal and provide an output signal that is a magnified replica of the input signal. Amplifiers are used in a variety of electronic circuit design applications. As appliances and circuit designs continue to decrease in size and increase in speed, the need for low power, low noise, current efficient amplifier circuitry increases.